Railway-signal.



N0. 829,606. PATENTBD AUG. 28, 1906.

B. J. SHEEHY. RAILWAY SIGNAL.

APPLICATION FILED MAYfi. 1903. RENEWED JAIL-22, 1906.

UNITED-STATES! PATENT onnion,

ROBERT' SHEEHY,OF NEW YORK; N. Y.

RAILWAY-SIGNAL.

Specification or Letters Patent.

' Patented Aug. as, 1906.

Application filed Kay 5, 1903. Renewed Iannary 22, 1906. Serial No-297.222.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, ROBERT J. SHEEHY, a citizen of the United States,residing at the city of New York, in the borough of Manhattan and Stateof New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRailway-Signals, of which the following is a 'full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention relates to automatic elec tric-railway-sinals-adaptedeither for single -or double trac roads and designed toafford 7 the greatest degree of safety and sureness of operation with aminimum amountofwiring and apparatus.

In accordance wlth my lnventlon'the signals are laced upon the trains,usually in thecab of t e locomotive or the compartment occu ied by themotorman. The track is divid is so arranged that the roximity of trainseither ap roaching or fol owing each other is indicate for eitherdirection of travel without the use of any electrical conductorsbecircuits carried by'the locomotive.

I I will first describe the apparatus carried by the locomotives. Thereis a battery A, an electromagnet B, having an oscillating armature-leverb, a normally-lighted pilot-lamp a, visual and audible signals 0 and d,respectively, toast as danger-signals, and an indicator 0, whoseelectroinagnet e is normally in series with magnet B and whose armaturecarries an index e, the-coils of magnet 6 also serving as a balancingresistance, as will be hereinafter explained. On the truck of the car ortrain I is mounted a contact-lever f, pivoted at f and carrying at oneend a contact-rollerf and at theopposite end adapted to engage aterminal against which the lever is ordinarily held by a s ring, asshown.

From the battery one side 0 the circuit leads by wire 1 to thetruck-frame and car' wheels; From the other side the circuit leads bywire 2 through magnet B, wire 3, to lever f, terminalf wire 4,indicator-magnet e, wire .5, and

ed into blocks, as usual, and my system wire to battery. Thus bothmagnets are normally energized and while'in thisoondition-the pilot-lampa is supplied with current over a branch-circuit leading from wire 2 tothe armature-lever I), contact 7, wire 8, lamp,

- a, and wire 6 to the opposite terminal of the battery.

- The two rails of a single-track road are indicated by g and g. Theyaredivided into blocks or sections by insulation 9 If trains run in bothdirections over this track, auxiliary contact-rails h are arrangedadjacent to 1 each of the main rails, those on one s1de being for trainsgoing in one direction, while:those on the other s1de are for trainsgoing in the opposite direction. These contact rails begin at ointsadjacent to the insulation g and With-it and before it passes it. Thelever f, carried by the locomotive, maybe assumed to be located on theright-hand side of the train in such a position that the roller f 2 willride' upon the rails it upon the same side of the "exten backward asufficient distance to en-' able the train to stop after it makescontact track, said lever f being tilted thereby and.

withdrawn from the terminalf. At the ad jacent ends of the blocksare'located two sets of apparatus, one cooperating with the trains goingin one directionand the other with the trains going in,the o positedirection; but the apparatus for one irection coo crates in ameasurewith the apparatus for t e other di- I reetion at a distant endof the block.

The apparatus for trains moving in one di' rect1onsay from west toe'ast-.cons1sts of a,

battery I- and two electromagnet 'J and K, respectively. Magnet J hastwo windings, the second one being indicated by 7' and consisting of afew turns onlyl ates two armature-levers and 9', both having front andback stops and theformer hav-' ing a lighter spring than the latter, sothat themagnet must be stronger to pull up lever 7' than to pull up thelever j. Magnet K has a single armature-lever k with front and backstops.

The apparatus for trains traveling from east to west consists of abattery 0 and two electroniagnets L and M, each having a single.armature-leverl and m with their front and which now-follows. Thecondition in which Magnet J actu- I through lever 7',

. j and. its backstop,

' against its backstop,

a from the west and to have a clear track the apparatus is shown is thatwhen no trainsare on the blocks. Magnet J at one end of block X andmagnet L at the other end of the same block are energized by battery I,over the following circuits: first, from battery by wires 9 and 10,magnet J, wire 11, main rail g, wire 12, lever 7c, wire 13, and battery;second, from battery by wires 9 and 10, main rail g, wire 14, magnet L,wire 15, main rail 9, Wire 12, lever k, wire 13 to battery. The currentflowing through J is sufficient to hold up lever j, but not lever j,'andthe current in magnet L holds up lever Z. All other levers are on theirback stops as the magnets are denergized.

Let us now assume a train to proach ahead. runs'onto rail. h at the endof block Y and disconnects the terminal f. The circuit of indicator 0being thus opened, the index e moves to the opposite osltion, thusshowing tothe engineer when he strikes the auxiliary rail. Thisindicator may be a bell, ifdesired, but it serves to call the en ineersattention to the signals which are a out to follow and informs him whenthe roller f is on the auxiliary rail. traced from battery A on thelocomotives as follows: by wire 2, magnet B, wire '3, lever f,

Its roller f rail h, wire 16, lever j, wire 17, magnet K,

wire 18, wire-.11, coil 7', front stop of lever 9',

wheels and axles and wire 1 to battery. Hence magnet B on the locomotiveis now in circuit With magnet K and coil on the roadway in stead-ofwithindicator-magnet C. Now the combined resistance of magnet K andcoil-j is substantially equahto. that of the indicator 0. Hence the'conditionof magnet B. remains unchanged and. the pilot-lamp continuestoburn,'thus giving a clear signal. The funo-" tion of coilj may best beexplained here. It will be seen that the circuit just traced includesthe lever 7' and its front stop, This lever is held by magnet Jin-circuit' with lever is as before traced. I This circuit is broken bythepnergizing of magnet K. Hence coil 7' which is energizedsimultaneously with'K, is used-to retainlever 1' against its front stop.

N 'ow suppose atrain had preceded the firstmentioned train and had notyet left the block. X ahead. The wheels and axles of the trainin block Xinspanningthe two railsg and g would shortcircuit battery I, and thusdeprive magnets J andL of, current, the short circuit being as follows:from .battery I by wires 9 and 10-to rail g, I and axles to railg, wire12, lever K and wire 13 to battery. Hence lever 7' would besothat: whenthe train from the west-strikes rail h the-circuit before traced. willbeopen at; the front sto of lever, 7'. Hence magnet B in the cab wilbe'de'e'nstrikes the rail A circuit can now be the length of the railwire 19, to mam rail 9, 'cargiven.

the latter train its frontstop through the wheels -b ergized and itsarmature will move to the position shown in dotted lines, the pilot-lampwill go out, and a circuit will be established thniugh the visual signal0 and audible signal d,'a

been traveling west, thus making imminent a head-on collision with thetrain approaching from the west, it will be seen that the trainin Xwould get a danger-signal the moment it.

struck the rail h at the end of block X for the reason that the train onthe block Y short circuits the battery I at the west end of the block Yand deenergizes magnet L at the east end of block Y, so that when thetrain in X h the circuit of magnet B in the cab is opened, as will nowbe traced:

giving a danger-' If the train in block X happened to have from rail hby wire 22, lever Z, at which,

point the circuit is open, its back stop. Hence the train on block Xwill be notified in time to come to a stop before colliding with thetrain on block Y, since it is sufficient within which to stop the train.

We now suppose a train in block Z to be going west with, a clear trackahead. When it strikes rail h, terminating at the end of since the leveris on.

block, Z, the closed circuit through the cab-.

magnet B is maintained and the clear signal, the circuit being asfollows through the track apparatus: from rail h. by wire 22, lever ,1,front stop, M, wire 27, to main rail. f ahead on block X, battery I atrain had been the engineer gets wire 26, magnet.v

wouldhave beenshort-circuited, magnet L deenergized, and its. leverZagainst its back stop. Hence the on.-

cuit before traced for the train on Z would beopen at lever land adangeresignalwould. be

case thetrainon the block Z going west strikes the contact-rail hv justbefore another train going east on. block Y is on the milk will bestopped, because the train on Z will close the circuit of magnet M,which will draw its armature-lever m against rails g and g and 24, andthis extra battery, actingiin conjunct'ionwith battery I, will causemagnet. J

topull up its second armature-lever 'f, so.

on Ystrikes the .rai ,h its trainzon Z' will proceed and place. battery0 acrossthe. of block X through the wires 23;

on'open c1'rcuit,' as can.

will stopwhile the, until it strikes the next rail It at the end ofblock X, when it will be a stopped in. the manner before described,

As soon as thetrainleaving Z enters-.X thev battery I will-beshort-circu ited throughzthe,

wheels and axlesand the armature-lever '7' r to danger.

will go to its back stop, still-leaving the circuit of train on block Yopen;(at' j) and its signal It'wi'll thus be seen that when the train onY got the danger-signalfrom the train on Z the trains were more apart.

than a whole block This fact become'sladvantage'ous in equippingportions of theroad where grades occur. If, for instance, the train onYwas a heavy one and running downgrade on-slippery tracks, the length ofblock X would give the train time to stop, notwithstanding the difiicultof stopping under such conditions, and back up before collision with thetrain approaching from Z. The same operation "would take place withrespect to the train on Z if that on Y wasfirst to strike its rail h,for it .willbe seen that the train on Y would energize magnet K and openthe circuit of bat tery I, thus causing magnet L to release its armatureand presenting to the train on Z an Train on Z open circuit and dangersignal. stops until train on Y reaches the rail h on X, whenit too isstopped but train on Z meanwhile had nearly the whole lengthof X to stopin and back up.

The contacts 0 and 0 on the M magnets may be used as the terminals of anindepend ent circuit, extending to a signalon a cross ing road to givenoticethat train is or is not about to passon the main 1" ad.

It will be seen that whilea train isrunning a block battery I isshort-circuited and the magnet L behind, as well asithe magnet J infront, is denergized, thus providing for a danger signal to trainsapproaching the same block from either direction, and this without theuse of wires along the block. If a train ahead is stopped, the train onthe block will be held up when it reaches rail h at the end of a block.Having described my invention, I claim 1; In a railway signal system,the combination of a track-block, an electromagnet at each end thereof,a battery with which said magnets are connected in parallel throughcircuits including the two track-rails of the block, local signal-loopsat each endof the block controlled by the respective magnets and meansfor connecting the terminals of the loops with a signal-circuit on atrain.

2. In a railway signal system, the combination of a track-block, anelectromagnet at each end thereof, a battery'energizing both magnetsthrough a circuit including the two rails of the block, localsignal-loop circuits at each end of the block controlled by therespective magnets, and-traimcircuits includ ing signals and adapted tocooperate with said l'ocal circuits to produce a signal on the train,substantially ,as described.

3. In an automatic signaling system, the

combination of a single-track road divided into blocks,signal-controlling apparatus at contro cuit including a battery, asignal-magnet and adjacent block limits, the same being elec tricallyconnected together through the intervening rails of the track only,signals on trains and means whereby said signals will be displayed ontrains approaching a block from either direction notifying them of thepresence of a train in'saidblock regardless of the direction of movementof the latter train.

4. In an automatic signaling system, the combination of a road dividedinto blocks, a local loop-circuit at the block limit normallyterminating at tWo points on the road side, a signal-circuiton a trainincluding a battery and signal magnet and terminating at two pointsadapted to engage the first-mentioned two points respectively to throwboth circuits into one, an electromagnet anda batter adapted to hold thelocal circuit norma ly closed, and a short-circuit to said batteradapted to be closed by spanning the ra' s. I v

- 5. In an automatic signaling system, the

combination of a track divided into blocks, a

local partial circuit at each block limit including two electromagnetswhose armatures said local partial circuit, a train-cira resistance eual to that of both electromagnets in thecloser carried by the train andadapted to connect the local and train circuits together andat thesametime out out the resistance,

for the purpose set forth.

' 6. In an automatic signaling system, the

combination of a track divided into blocks, a 'local partial circuit ateach block limit including an electroma et, a'local battery at theblocklimit, an e ectromagnet at a distant block limit, a circuit includingthe batteryand distant magnet, a circuit-breaker in said circuit andcontrolled by said magnet in coal partial circuit, a circuitthe localpartial circuit and means whereby a by the second ma net and includingthe first e e ctromagnet an the second battery, means whereby one trainwill actuate the second electromagnet and means carried by another trainand cooperating with said local circuit to produce a signal for thesecond train, substantially as described.

8. In a railway signaling system, the combination of a roadside circuit,a road-side battery adapted to be shunted by s anning the rails, anelectromagnet normal y main mining said circuit in condition to give aIn witness whereof I subscribe my signaclear signal, a. signaltrain-circuit, a train-batture in presence of two wltnesses.

te and means whereb the train will con-' ne both circuits "in 011 seriescircuit and ROBERT SHEEHY' 5 actuate the train-signal by means of theWitnesses:

trainbattery in accordance with the condi- WM, A. ROSENBAUM,

tiqn of the road-side circuit. WALDO M. CHAPIN.

